Take Me Out to the Ball Game
by Inspiredxwords
Summary: ONE-SHOT Emma Pillsbury experiences her first three baseball games. The first one is a disaster, the second is much better, but its the third game that she attends with Will Schuester that she learns to love baseball. WillxEmma


Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Glee, the characters, or main plot. I just love writing for fun and love Emma and Will together. =D.

The first time Emma Pillsbury went to a professional baseball game, it was all her mother's fault. If her mother hadn't called and begged her to attend the Friday night single mixer, she wouldn't have even put a thought into going. However, her mother did call and Emma picked up the phone.

"Emma darling…," her mother whined over the phone. "You're a full grown woman now, yet you haven't found a man to settle down with. Look at your brother; he is happily married with four kids already. I worry about you Emma, please go to the event on Friday for me."

If Emma didn't admire her mother as much as she did or look up to her as a role model like she did, she would have ignored her request. It was the pleading tone in her mother's voice that landed her in a germ infested seat in the crowd of a baseball game at seven o'clock on a Friday night. Emma had of course wiped her seat down with a handful of Clorox wipes before placing a sterilized towel she had brought from home down on the chair before she took her seat.

The corners of her mouth turned down into a frown as she observed the single men that sat down in the designated seats for the mixer; she was disgusted. She watched as men sloshed beer all down the front of their shirts or tried eating a hot dog as ketchup dripped from the ends of the buns all over the place. Just as she was getting overwhelmed with the behavior of the slovenly men around her, Ken Tanaka, the football coach of the school that she worked at, took a seat right next to her. A slight groan escaped her lips as he enthusiastically greeted her. It was quite apparent to Emma that Ken was infatuated with her. She didn't see him as more than a co-worker though and frankly, watching him chasing after her was tiring in itself. Besides, she was fond of another co-worker of hers already, the Spanish teacher Will Schuester. She knew she was weaving herself into a tangled web of drama and only adding to the flame though because Will was married and had been for five years. Emma tried not to get her hopes up about the fact that his marriage was on the rocks, but no matter what she tried, she couldn't prevent her growing crush on Will.

At her first baseball game, Emma didn't have the opportunity to learn much about how the game was played due to being too busy cringing over how her ultra white shoes were now sticky with pop and other beverages. She was also too busy freaking out over the spit encased sunflower seed shell that landed on her pants. She tuned out Ken's voice after a while, politely answering questions when he asked them. The last straw for her though was the creepy man sitting on her other side whose hand kept slowly moving past his hand rest, trying to pick up and hold hers which was sitting in her lap. When the game ended and the group talked about hitting a nearby bar for drinks, she shot out of her seat and ran for her car. She couldn't stand one more minute in the seats with the men that had blown her eardrum out with every run that was scored.

---

The second time Emma Pillsbury went to a professional baseball game; it was all Will Schuester's fault. If Will wasn't so attractive, smart, kind, and possibly the love of her life, Emma would never have given baseball games another chance. However, Will was all of those things and more, so Emma couldn't resist his invisible charm.

"Hey Emma," he had coaxed her one day in the teacher's lounge. "Glee club is singing at a baseball game this Saturday night, would you be interested in coming to chaperone with me?"

Emma wouldn't have accepted his invitation to chaperone if he didn't have that gleam of reassurance in his eyes when he asked her. She felt safe around Will. He understood her phobia of germs and instead of telling her that she was crazy, he tried to help her when he could. At this point in time, Emma would spend any time she could with Will, so when Saturday night rolled around she found herself ushering Glee club students off the bus and to their seats at the baseball field.

The kids, Will, and Emma all got special passes to be allowed on the field to perform and as Emma walked by Will's side, she couldn't help but get butterflies in the pit of her stomach. She wasn't sure if that was Will's fault too or if it was just the nerves talking to her. After all, they were stepping on a sacred turf and thousands of eyes were watching them.

Will nudged her to see if she was okay, and she nodded with a gulp. She didn't leave his side as he led the Glee club into singing the first note of their performance. It wasn't long before the crowd erupted into cheers and loud whistles. A smile formed on her lips; this baseball experience was already better than the previous one.

Half way through the game, it was apparent to Emma that the boys in the club were just as enthusiastic as the men she had seen the last time she was there, in cheering for their team. This time around, she learned a few things that she didn't know about the game and she didn't even think about the amount of germs around her. Will kept her mind off those things. He made her laugh with his witty comments. It was near the sixth inning when the Jumbo-tron television screen stopped showing film of fans and switched over to the Kiss Cam as they called it. From what Emma had gathered from the last game she was at, a camera focused in on couples and the crowd would scream and holler until the couple shared a kiss and the camera moved on to another couple. She watched in disbelief as some guy shoved his tongue down his girlfriend's throat. The Glee club girls were mumbling "cute" and "awww" while the boys stared apathetically at the screen, waiting for the inning to start up again. Emma glanced away for a split second and when she turned back to the screen, she couldn't help her jaw from dropping to the floor.

There on the giant television was Will and her standing side by side in a little heart frame being videotaped. The Glee club kids starting pumping their fists and hollering out. Finn led the boys in a chant, encouraging Will to kiss Emma. Emma's heart was pounding. Who did these camera guys think they were? Will and Emma were most certainly not a couple. Emma just stared wide eyed at Will, but his expression was softer than what she expected. It almost looked like he was waiting for this, like he wanted this to happen.

"Shoe! Shoe!" The kids shouted out and people all across the stadium were whooping, hollering, and stomping their feet to see the two of them kiss. Will bent down and whispered into Emma's ear.

"Sorry Emma, it's what the crowd wants."

To be honest, Emma had never been happier with the crowd's demands. A shiver tickled down her spine as he pushed a strand of her beautiful red hair from her eyes and placed his lips on hers. Emma could hear the cheers from around her, but she blocked them out. Even if the kiss was brief and simple, Emma wanted to remember the feel of Will's perfect lips on hers. When he pulled away, she couldn't knock the surprised look off her face, or a smile for that matter. She was ecstatic with results of her second experience at a baseball game, perhaps she would even try coming again sometime. The kids didn't stop talking about the kiss on the bus ride home, and Emma was trying hard to hide her red, flushed cheeks. The kiss most likely meant nothing to Will, but it meant the world to her.

---

The third time Emma Pillsbury went to a professional baseball game; it was all her own fault. If she hadn't fallen head over heels for Will in the past year, she would not have asked him to accompany her to a baseball game on a Sunday afternoon. However, Emma did love Will as well as gathered the courage to ask him on a date to the Sunday game.

"Will, I was wondering if you would possibly like to take me to another baseball game this Sunday? I had a lot of fun last time we went." Emma shyly approached him.

She was relieved to see a smile light up his face. He had just recovered from a nasty divorce and although Emma had already been to a few dinners and an assortment of events with Will, he seemed genuinely excited about their date. Emma exhaled silently and tried to keep her giddy teenage conscience from making her jump up and down. When Sunday afternoon came around, Emma was seated next to Will at the game and had never felt more comfortable with her surroundings. She didn't even get upset when the little kid behind them kept throwing his slobbery popcorn kernels at her. How could she though when Will reached over and pulled out the kernels from her red locks whenever one landed there. Her heart stopped with every simple touch of his.

Like the first game, Emma didn't learn too much about baseball. However, this time it was different from the perverted and sloppy men from her first baseball game. This time she found herself enjoying the experience. The reason she didn't learn much about the game, was because she couldn't keep her thoughts off Will and kept silently wishing the Kiss Cam would weed them out of the crowd again like last time and force them into a kiss. Her mind wouldn't concentrate on anything else except the gleam of excitement in Will's eyes when the team scored or the way he pumped his arms in the air when a player hit a homerun.

"Stay here Emma, I'll be right back. I've got to run to the bathroom," announced Will during the seventh inning stretch.

Emma nodded and reassured him that she wasn't going anywhere. As she waited for him to come back, she stood up and allowed her legs to stretch like the thousands of others at the game. She listened intently to a group of small children belting out "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". She followed the lyrics to the song on the screen with her eyes, but didn't sing along. As soon as the children were done singing, the camera flipped over to a man standing a few steps away from the singing kids. Her eyes almost bugged out of her head as she realized the man was none other then Will Schuester himself. He was standing there with the same silly grin that melted her countless times. In his hands was a neon green sign that read, "I love you Emma Pillsbury." She stared bewilderedly at the screen and sign before almost falling over in surprise. When she could think straight again, Emma beamed.

Her third experience at the baseball field was beyond words. She couldn't wait until Will got back to the seats from his little stunt. She was quite positive that she would tackle him with a hug. She didn't need to be put publicly on the Kiss Cam to kiss him. When Will came back, Emma didn't waste any time. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him gently.

"I love you too Will Schuester," she told him. It was her third experience at a ball game that Emma decided she loved baseball.

A/N: Hello! Alright, so I went to a baseball game last week and this idea sort of popped into my head. I would like to hear your comments if you think the story is ridiculously cliché or cheesy. I was trying to avoid it being those things, but I'm sure that it's at least borderline cliché or cheesy. Don't be afraid to call me out for it! I know its pure fluff, but I was excited because I got to play around with a few literary techniques that I usually don't! So, leave me a review, I would love to hear your thoughts! Also, thank you so much to those who reviewed and favorited my other Will and Emma story!


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